La Liga Soccer Game Week 22 Review: Cristiano Ronaldo Back From Ban

The European and World Champions lost 4 – 0 at Vicente Calderon on Saturday. In the league, Real Madrid haven’t got the better of the La Liga champions since April 2013. Here are some other stats from the weekend matches: Cristiano Ronaldo returned from his two match ban to face Atletico Madrid and these are his numbers from the clash: 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 chances created, 0 shots on target, 0 take-ons, 0 crosses and only 70% pass accuracy. This was without a doubt one of his worst game in years. While, Messi on the other hand, became the first player to have scored the most goals & made the most assists in the history of La Liga.

Atletico Madrid have pulled back Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid back in close proximity of other teams. Los Blancos suffered a humiliating loss at the hands of their fierce rivals and are now only one point ahead of the second placed, Barcelona. Tiago opened the goal scoring for Diego Simeone’s side in the 14th minute and Niguez doubled the lead just four minutes later. A goal each from Greizmann and Mandzukic in the second half sealed three points for the reigning champions. But Real’s talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo believes that his side can still clinch the title, despite the result against Atleti.

“In my opinion we are a better team than Atletico and we should be showing that on the pitch. I’m sure, in the end, we’ll win La Liga,”

The Portuguese skipper added: “It was a day to forget but we are still top of the league and we know we’ll have to fight right until the end. We have to put this game behind us as quickly as possible because Real Madrid can’t lose 0-4 to any team.”

Luis Enrique’s Barcelona have reduced the gap at the top after their 2 – 5 win at Athletic Bilbao. Messi, Neymar and Suarez got a goal each as the Catalan giants cruised past Bilbao. One more slip and Real can lose their domination at the top of the table and now it seems inevitable that the title race would go down to the wire. The Blaugrana giants haven’t lost a match since a surprise defeat against David Moyes’ Real Sociedad. Barca have picked up all three points in their last five league matches. They were allegedly caught up in a crisis last month, but as of now they seem to be in a really good position to regain the title from Atletico Madrid. Also, goal difference could be a major factor in the end and Barcelona have amassed 21 goals in their last five wins and that coupled with Real Madrid’s big loss has given them a greater goal difference than the European champions.

Moving a bit lower in the table, Valencia have climbed up to fourth spot again after a 2-1 victory against Espanyol. Sevilla’s 2-1 defeat at Getafe has allowed Nuno’s team to take their place.

Real Sociedad were held by Celta Vigo in a 1 – 1 draw at home, while Cordoba lost 1 – 2 against the visitors Almeria. On Monday night, Elche won 2 – 0 against Rayo Vallecano with Damian Suarez scoring an absolute scorcher and Mendez Rodriguez scored the second to seal the win.

Levante were the biggest winners of this game week in La Liga, if we consider the goal difference. Malaga were at the receiving end of a 4 – 1 drubbing by Levante, who are currently battling in the relegation zone.